As Harsh and Untameable as the Sea
by Temporary Eternity
Summary: Rainne Sanchez must go in search of a great treasure to avenge her parents' murder. Her unlikely partner in crime, Jack Sparrow, is everything she loathes about pirates. OC/JS pairing, rated M for violent scenes, no POTC plots, only characters.
1. Chapter 1

Dawn. The sun climbed in the sky, barely cresting the mountains in then faraway distance. Cold changed to warmth as the mist evaporated and night changed into day. It was a time of death and birth as the moon once again surrendered its place to the sun in the endless cycle known as life. Farmers rose to tend their fields and livestock, bakers began working shortly thereafter and eventually the world began the day as any other.

The city of Tortuga was no exception. As the sun rose, ships were already coming and going in the famous port, known for it's les than shining reputation and infamous black market exchanges all through the city. Few foreigners knew, however, of a small area no more than a mile away from the main city that was white to Tortuga's black. Pirates were far and few, small one story houses were clustered along the only road through the area. It was known as Eagle's View, and a more peaceful place was hard to come by. The houses all had excellent views of the harbour as well as the comings and goings of nearly every pirate ship in the world, from which originated the name of the area. The inhabitants consisted of middle class men, excluding both nobles and peasants. Blacksmiths, bakers, cartographers and other fairly respectable members of society could be found along the winding road and peace was kept between all.

Pedro Sanchez was a middle-aged man with greying hair and a full beard. He was the local carpenter and prided himself in his well-built houses. His daughter, Rainne, bore a strong resemblance to her father. Her black hair and dark blue eyes were a copy of her father's when he was still in his youth. Pedro was an immigrant from Spain, and he had different ideas about raising children then the inhabitants of Tortuga. For one, he didn't want his daughter to be uneducated and ignorant of the world as it was. He had allowed Rainne to work with him from her early teens, nearly ten years ago. As she grew older and wiser, he had recommended that she find herself a job in the city to learn more, and she had. She now worked at a barely respectable alehouse called the Cursed Paradise near the docks which was frequented by pirates, smugglers, whores and traders from all parts of the world.

Rainne woke with a start, shielding her eyes against the harsh light that filtered through her window. She lay in bed, listening to the noises in her house. The floor creaked as her father moved about in his workroom, wood was filed and chopped as he assembled his various commissions and prepared them for delivery. Rainne sighed and rose from her bed.

Shortly after, she left the house and made her way down the winding path from Eagle's View to Tortuga. As she made her way through the town, she had to sidestep to avoid the drunks lying about in the streets with whores entangled in their arms, as well as the chickens and citizens who weren't drunk and unconscious. When she neared the tavern of the Crossed Blades, a pirate who had been lurking in the shadows tried to grope her, and Rainne shuddered in revulsion. Pirates made her sick.

"Lass, where ye goin'? I were just lookin' for some fun!"

Rainne walked imperceptibly faster. She wished that her father had instructed her in the art of swordplay now more than ever. As she grew older, more of the pirates and filth of the city made similar remarks and Rainne was defenceless to protect herself. Carrying weapons in Tortuga was absolutely commonplace, even for some of the women. Rainne felt vulnerable and in a town like Tortuga, being able to protect ones self was vital to their survival. Rainne decided to ask her father about the subject the next day when she saw him.

As it neared an hour before midday, Rainne entered the Cursed Paradise. Her eyes struggled to see in the near darkness of the place as she fumbled over to the windows to pull back the curtains. It would take her hours to clean the place up in time to open that evening. Rainne sighed in resignation.

*****

The ale flowed freely that night as Rainne weaved her way between the tables and various fights that had broken out. As she worked her way through a particularly crowded corner a very drunk man pulled her arm and forced her to sit next to him. The smell of him was almost enough for Rainne to be sick, but she managed to refrain from being sick as she struggled to get away from the man.

"I am no whore." She spat as she tried to stand up.

"Aw, come on lass. Just a bit of fun!" His attempts became more violent and Rainne did the only thing she could think of; smashed a nearby bottle over the man's head. It was sad that no one even paused to look around for the sound of the struggle. Tortuga was such a violent city that breaking glass and people being raped didn't even draw attention anymore. Rainne fought down a sickness that plagued her every time this sort of thing happened and stood up, looking around for someone to help her. She spotted Nicholas, another worker at the alehouse, and motioned him over. He eventually made his way through the crowd.

"What seems to be the problem here?"

"This man his been hit over the head with a bottle and I need help to drag him into the street." Rainne answered disdainfully.

Nicholas sighed and picked up the man's feet, as Rainne grabbed hold of the shoulders of the man's jacket and together they heaved him into the street. Nicholas threw Rainne one of his roguish smiles and stopped her from brushing past him.

"Would you care to explain to me how that came to happen?" Rainne grimaced.

"You wouldn't want the details. Sufficed to say I knocked him out for good reason."

Well that makes one point for you and two for me." Nicholas said gleefully, referring to the competition the two always had while working. The person who had to knock more people out got complementary ale from the loser. It was the only way the two friends could think of to amuse themselves while working at such a horrid place. Rainne sighed and turned back to her job. She suddenly became very sad thinking about Nicholas. They had been friends since childhood and as they grew older, Rainne had grown to think of the boy as more than just a friend. He was the son of a blacksmith and a respectable man and Rainne knew they could never be together because he didn't care for her like she did him. She often had dreams that were haunted by his face, angular and clean-shaven and his expressive brown eyes the exact shade of his hair. One of the local wenches pushed past Rainne, startling her out of her reverie. Angry at herself for being so weak and unable to let him go, Rainne moved again to do her job.

Hours later, slightly after midnight, Rainne was exhausted. She found a relatively clean glass behind the counter and filled it with water. After manoeuvring through a very rowdy crowd, it was always worst around this time, Rainne found a fairly quiet place to sit and relax. She looked around and spotted two pirates sitting at a nearby table. They didn't look out of the ordinary, but they immediately attracted her attention. The reason for that was both of them were completely sober and looked rather serious. The Cursed Paradise was not the sort of place where anybody would come to do business or sit and have an idle chat. The taller of the two men was leaning over the table towards the other and whispering to him. Rainne's curiosity had been piqued, and she shifted her chair over so that she would better be able to hear what they were discussing so secretly. The men paused in their conversation and drank deeply from their mugs of ale. Then the pirate sitting closest to Rainne broke the silence.

"What did you really bring me here for, mate?"

"Ye wanna hear a story?" the other man asked, leaning forward once more.

"What kind of story?"

"It be a story of love, sorrow, death, a terrible curse and a treasure beyond your wildest dreams."


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again, reader! This chapter is considerably longer than most other chapters will be, just to let you know. I normally cut them off around 1,500 words so consider this a bonus. XD Please review my story and let me know what you think, I value your opinions!

**Disclaimer: I do not own POTC! The characters Rainne and Nicholas belong to me, as well as the story told in this chapter by the two men. All of the characters and events so far are products of my own bizarre imagination.**

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**The two men leaned closer each other, and the first pirate began to talk. The noise in the tavern almost drowned out their voices, but Rainne focused on what they were saying and managed to make out thier words.

"Aye, that sounds like a mighty interestin' story. Let's hear it."

The first man lowered his voice. "Ye ever been hearin' of Trevelyn Gregory, Cap'n of a ship called The Blood River?"

The other man responded "Aye, so I 'ave."

Rainne could hear through the intonations of his voice that the name really did mean something to him, and he sounded fearful. The story teller resumed his tale.

"Good. Well 'bout one hundred years ago, he were the most feared pirate the whole ocean. Every time 'is ship went on a raid 'e'd personally murder all them crew what were on the other ship. He 'ated the world, and everyone in it. He were a wanted man by the law, but always managed to escape with his life. Many a story were told 'bout him and how he had no heart."

The man took a big gulp of ale, and glanced around the tavern as if afraid of being overheard.

"Well, as the story goes, he'd been sailin' around plunderin' and killin' men for near 20 years. One particular day, 'e were raidin' a pirate ship when 'e saw the most beautiful woman he'd ever lain eyes upon. She had long wavy golden hair the color o' the sun, and beautiful green eyes like any tropical forest you or I 'ave ever seen. She was helping her crew kill all Gregory's men. The lass was good with a blade and was killin' more than 'er fair share of 'em. Gregory took 'er captive on The Blood River, locked 'er in the brig, and spared 'er life. It's said that her beauty cast a spell over 'im and he couldn't hurt her. The captain cross'd over to the enemy's ship and killed e'ery last one o' the opposing sailors and pirates with him own sword. He took all thier loot from candles and sails to gold and rum, and replaced it with greek fire which he lit as 'im own ship sailed away into the blood red sunset."

"This woman he'd captured were smarter than any man you or I could name, and had a will of iron more than any general or king. She got 'erself out o' the brig and insinuated 'erself into the crew. To this day no one knows quite how the lass managed it, but somehow she had a hold over 'er captain. She wouldn't take orders from no one, 'specialy not the captain but ne'er so much as gave 'im any reason to kill her. She wouldn't let no man touch 'er, and she never spoke neither."

"Now, the Captain Gregory was no match for her intellectually speakin', and every day he let 'er walk all over 'im. He wanted so much to kill 'er, but for some reason he couldn't bring 'imself to do it. He realised 'e was fallin' love wit' her, but it were too late. See, 'e couldn't get her out of his head. He never told 'er how 'e felt 'bout 'er, he was too afraid of rejection. The one thing 'e did was 'e gave 'er a beautiful diamond an' sapphire necklace, beautiful beyond anything a treasure lovin' pirate could imagine in 'is most fanciful dreamin's . The lady never wore it."

"She had been on his ship for near five years, when the Blood River attacked a ship belongin' to the Royal Navy, the curs'd bastards that they are. As the two ships fought bitterly, each hatin' the other with a passion, the Capt'n of the Navy ship snuck onto Gregory's ship. He smashed holes into the ship, renderin' it near useless and murdered a great number of the deckhands. Then he went into the capt'ns quarters, and found the woman tied to a desk, by order of the capt'n for 'er protection. He took 'er up to the top o' the deck and held him pistol to 'er head. He told them pirates to drop them weapons and after they did, he shot the woman in front of 'em."

"Gregory uttered a cry o' despair and agony an' threw 'imself at the Navy captain, his sword skewering the man through and pinnin' him to the ship's deck. Gregory seized 'is love an' took her below deck. When 'e came back, his face be stained with tears and he looked like he waned nothin' more than the murder of all tha' surrounded 'im. All the pirates were shocked 'nd scared; no one 'ad ever seen 'im cry. Hell, no one had even heard of him e'er cryin'. Captain Trevelyn Gregory's heart were broken from losin' the only person 'e'd ever loved. He took out 'im pistols and shot all his crew and the other fer good measure. He raided the other ship and took all thier treasure to 'im own ship. He sailed to a deserted island in the Caribbean and buried all the treasure under the sand. He took the woman and dug 'er a grave with 'im own hands, and buried her. He put the necklace around her neck and put a spell on 'er that's said to have made 'er undeadl. Gregory put a curse on the treasure and destroyed 'im own ship. He stranded 'imself on that island and sat by his love's grave. He found an empty rum bottle and a peice of parchement, as using 'im own blood as ink, he wrote a letter and put it inside said bottle, then chucked to sea. According the legend, he still sits on that there island, waitin' for someone to claim his treasure."

The man took a break from the story and ordered another round of ale. Rainne stayed where she was and waited for the man to continue talking. She risked a glance over her shoulder, and saw the man remove something from the pocket of his filthy overcoat that could have been a very old piece of parchment. She quickly turned back around, but listened intently.

"What the blazes be that?" the other man asked.

"This be the very letter written by Trevelyn Gregory 'imself."

There was a long pause in their conversation. The first man continued.

"Me grandfather found an empty bottle o' rum afloat in the sea. He found this letter inside the bottle, which proves me whole story true." He unfolded the letter and read it to the other pirate.

"This be what the letter says:

_This letter was written by Trevelyn Gregory, Captain of the Blood River on the twenty third day of October, in the year 1611. To the one who receives this letter, you have a great honour. In exactly 100 years (in the year 1711) an island with a river of blood will appear in the middle of the Caribbean sea. Sail to this island, and you will be rewarded with a treasure beyond your dreams. Be warned, if you are not worthy of this treasure you will die. Also, there is one item of value on this island you are not to take. This item is a necklace of diamonds and sapphires, do not touch it. To find this island you must be aboard a sea vessel during the year of the island's emergence. Your ship will change direction suddenly; do not try to fight it. It will lead you to this island, and the treasure. I will be waiting for you._

_If you happen to receive this letter sometime before the year of 1711, tell my story to your eldest child, and tell them to do the same. Give them this letter, and when the 100 years has come to an end, the one who knows this story can come to claim it. The moment you choose to reveal to them this letter, you will die. Only one person may know about this treasure at any one time._

_Let me warn you once more. This treasure cannot be claimed by the unworthy. If you prove to be such a man, expect my wrath to be evoked upon the entire world._

_Signed, Captain Trevelyn Gregory_."

"Now, if I be rememberin' correctly, this be the year 1710, therefore in one year this here treasure will be up for the claimin'. Now you listen to me young man. I'm not young as I once were, and something tells me my time will be up before next year. I want you to be the one to claim said treasure, my son. Just promise your old man you'll have him a funeral to be remembered and to make me 'appy, you hear?"

"I won't let you down." The younger man promised, and the tone of his voice indicated that he would do exactly what this man had asked of him.

Rainne made the logical assumption that these two men were father and son, which had previously gone unnoticed by the girl.

The two men were silent for an eternity, which was infrequently punctuated by the sounds of mugs being set down on the table. During that interminable silence, Rainne imagined she could hear the ticking of a clock, slowly counting down the seconds left to the older man's life. How long would it be? A minute, a day? The noise around the alehouse seemed surreal and Rainne sat in a bubble of silence which existed in slow motion and ticked like a bomb. Her brain absorbed the story she had heard, but it also seemed unreal. She imagined what the old man might have been feeling at that exact moment, powerful emotions of terror, elation, uncertainty, dread, loneliness…

_The moment you choose to reveal to your child this letter, you will die. Only one person may know about this treasure at any given time._

A thought suddenly occurred to the young woman. How did anybody know this treasure was real at all? Of course there had been a pirate Trevelyn, but the man sitting near Rainne had offered no solid proof whatsoever except for the letter allegedly written by the pirate himself. The whole situation suddenly seemed absurd and Rainne almost laughed. She had been caught in the spell woven by this storyteller at the table next to hers, been made to believe in a powerful curse, immortality, a pirate who seemed not to care about a fortune of treasure, and thought a man was going to die for simply speaking a story. How foolish could she have been? Rainne sighed and stood up from her seat at the wooden table near the two men. There was no use sitting around and listening to a ghost story when there was work to be done.

From the other side of the alehouse, a cacophony of noise erupted. First there was the regular sound of broken glass, screams and yelling, which was rapidly followed by multiple gunshots and more screaming. The trouble originated from a corner where two sailors stood facing each other, each pointing their pistol at the opposing man and aiming to kill. Nicholas and Rainne had been in similar situations before, and they knew not to get involved or anger either of the men with weapons brandished. Instead, they normally ushered people out of the building to avoid any accidental deaths that would deter business from the Cursed Paradise and let the men have their fight, which is precisely what happened on this day, as any other. As people filed out of the alehouse, the sailor with his back to the corner fired multiple shots at his opponent, but the alcohol that he had consumed previously inhibited him from a decent shot. The bullets whizzed past their intended target and instead imbedded themselves in the bodies of two men, one in the chest and the other in the neck. These men were the very same that Rainne had been listening to previously.

The moment the men were shot, Rainne's blood ran cold. The curse had been true, the man had died after telling his son about the treasure. Terror filled her and she fought to stay standing. But something was horribly wrong with the situation before her. The younger man should not have died! He was supposed to carry on the legacy of his father and carry out his promise to the older man. Instead, he lay on the floor with a bullet in his neck, the bleeding had been powerful enough to spray onto the ceiling and walls, as well as ending the man's life instantly. The older man died moments after, collapsing on the floor next to his son. Rainnes' body seemed no longer to belong to her and she moved against any logical thought towards the two dead men. As she approached, she remembered the letter the old man had shown his son. Rainne searched the fathers' jacket and eventually found the old piece of parchment, which she slipped down her shirt under her corset.

Her hands were covered in blood but the horror failed to penetrate into her mind which had dulled to a completely useless state. From a seemingly impossibly far distance, another gunshot was heard, followed shortly after by a dull thud as a body hit the ground. Nicholas arrived to assist Rainne in the removal of the two bodies, as well as the sailor who had been unfortunate enough to be killed in the duel. They hauled the men into the alley behind the alehouse and then walked to the cemetery located three short blocks away. Even though it was the city of Tortuga, men deserved a respectable burial, no matter what social position they held. Rainne and Nicholas knocked on the door to the grave keeper's house, and then stepped over the threshold into the domain of the dead.

"Yes hello, can I help you?" A short man shuffled towards the doorway from an obscured passage down the hall to the left.

"Yes, we work at the Cursed Paradise down the road. Three men were shot in a fight but moments ago, and their bodies were dumped in the street. We need a burial."

"Three men, you said? What went on, a full scale riot?" the man grinned and it looked nothing more than a horrible grimace to Rainne. She shrank back slightly.

"Do you know their names?"

"No sir. They were not regulars to our business and it's likely that they were strangers to everyone. And unless you have a great deal of money in which to bribe the not-so-law-abiding folk around here for information, we'll never know their identities."

The grave keeper was silent for a moment.

"Aye, I'll bury them. Will unmarked graves do?"

"Well enough, thank you."

The grave keeper disappeared into the shadows and returned with three burlap sacks. He accompanied Rainne and Nicholas back to the alehouse in his wagon, which he later filled with three bodies contained in large, nondescript brown sacks and returned to his cemetery.

Rainne was emotionally exhausted. She still functioned in a state of semi-awareness which had taken hold of her after the three men's deaths. She stumbled out of the Cursed Paradise and up the road to Eagle's View, dimly aware of her surroundings. Suddenly the improbable seemed much more possible than she had believed but a few hours ago.

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Long chapter! Please review and tell me what you thought. Sorry if the conversation between the two men was hard to understand. I just wanted to incorporate a pirate-like speech into their dialogue. Sorry for any literary inconvenience I have caused!

Other characters from POTC that we know and love will be introduced in later chapters, so for now you'll have to sit tight and wait. Thanks guys!

**REVIEW!** Just click the little button below and tell me what you thought! 3


	3. Isolation

Hello my dear readers! I hope you enjoy this next instalment.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean and I am not making any money from this story.**

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Rainne lay in a small bed in the north-eastern corner of her father's house, on the second floor. To anyone who observed her she would appear to be sleeping, but this was not the case. She lay, frozen in place and daring only to breathe, questioning more or less everything she had ever known. She had been raised by a father with few religious beliefs and as such, she set little store in the likes of ghosts and spirits. From a young age, her father had taught her that it was never a good idea to talk about one's personal beliefs. He had told her that people often disappeared in the middle of the night if it was discovered that they did not conform to the religious beliefs of their kings. She knew that she could not discuss this kind of thing with anyone but her father, for fear of being killed. However, the idea of asking her father about magic was a frightening one, for he would certainly think her crazy himself and lock her away somewhere.

So Rainne lay, wondering just how much of what she thought she had known was untrue. A day previously she had scoffed at the suggestion of the existence of ghosts and magic. Today she thought of her personal experiences with both and came to the conclusion that it was simply impossible that neither existed. The coincidence was simply too much. The pirate's letter had clearly stated that once the story was shared, the sharer was to die. And what had happened? The old sailor had died. Rainne would have staked her life that it was no mere coincidence. So if that part of the story was true, why couldn't the rest of it? If people could now die for telling a story, why could there by no such thing as cursed treasures and undead pirates?

What she hadn't been able to explain, however, was that the other man had died as well. She was now the only person who knew about this treasure and it terrified her. Should she go and claim it for herself, or forget all about it and move on with her life? She had lost no small amount of sleep tossing and turning wondering what one earth she was going to do.

Rainne had been tempted to burn the letter many times but had never succeeded. As she lay in bed, she could feel it against her skin, in the same place where she had hid it only the night before. It felt filthy, and yet it called to her at the same time. She had also been tempted to go and claim the treasure, and to use the money to help her father's business. But that would involve being part of a crew and the only opportunities she could find in a port like Tortuga were pirates. Pirates who would rape, beat and murder her simply because they were not forbidden to do so and they had the inclination. Living in Tortuga had taught her the harsh truth in that, and pirates were never to be trusted under any circumstances.

A rooster crowed insistently outside of Rainne's window, and she sighed in resignation before rising to face the day. During the night, one thing had become abundantly clear to her; she needed to learn how to defend herself against anyone who wished her harm. Come to think of it, she should have acquired similar skills a long time ago, but now the threat of death seemed so much more imminent after her encounters the pervious day that protection was something that she absolutely needed.

Rainne entered her father's workshop to the sounds of a hammer chipping off pieces of wood from a large beam that would be part of a new building in town. Rainne approached her father and considered how to interrupt him from his work. His hair was greyer than she remembered and he looked… haggard and old. Why had she never noticed these things before? As her father stopped working, she cleared her throat.

"Father, I have a request to make of you."

"Carry on, my child." She paused, and cursed herself for not thinking of how she was going to ask her father to help her. She inhaled and began tentatively.

"Well, last night while I was working at the Cursed Paradise there was… a fight and I could very well have died. In light of this, I've decided that I should learn how to protect myself. If I recall correctly, you once told me that you knew how to wield a sword. I need you to teach me how to fight for myself. Please, father."

"Well, it is not something I wished you would ever need to learn…"

"Please!"

"I wasn't finished. I will consent to teach you as long as you promise to never use your word unless you absolutely must. I'd not like to think I taught my daughter to be a murderer."

"I understand. I will use it to defend myself, and only that."

"Good. Now, get yourself to the blacksmith and find a suitable weapon."

"Yes, father."

Rainne was relieved beyond belief. She would never be useless again, never be defenceless against a drunken pirate in Tortuga or anyone else. She felt much safer and less afraid of the things she had seen the night before. Her training began the next day, as her father saw fit to begin as soon as possible, though he was not entirely happy about the arrangement.

Her lessons took place in the back yard of their small house, where her father had carved a rough circle in the ground as a duelling area.

"First of all, you need to lean the guarding stance. You'll want to crouch down with your feet a shoulder's width apart, and turn your body sideways, thus providing the enemy with a smaller target…"

Rainne nodded and adjusted her feet on the ground.

"As far as blade work is concerned, you need to learn the attack, parry and riposte. After that we can delve into more challenging manoeuvres. Now, attack me." Rainne complied, and the training began.

* * *

It was easily several hours after midnight when Rainne finally drudged out the front door of the Cursed Paradise, and the girl was exhausted. Pirates and rumrunners were never an easy crowd to deal with, especially after they had downed several mugs of ale. Rainne, however, did not feel as disgruntled and disgusted as she usually did. She had become more at ease around these types of men, mostly because she now knew that she would be able to defend herself against them, or at least for awhile. The lessons had been going well. After several hours of practise daily, she had gained considerable amount of muscle in her legs and arms that had previously been lacking. She had mastered most of the simple attacks and defences, and her father had just begun to teach her the more complicated types of footwork usually employed by pirates when duelling.

After a long walk home, Rainne lay at last in her bed, sleeping. She dreamt about the cursed treasure of Gregory Trevelyn, as she had almost every single night since over-hearing the story, which had been more than two months ago. She dreamt, this time, that the story was a trap to lure innocents to an island where they were killed and eaten by cannibals. Rainne twitched in her sleep. She saw herself being roasted over a cooking pit, the flames jumping higher and higher towards her body. The heat was scorching, her skin was shrivelling and smoking as the flames engulfed her, a scream frozen on her lips.

Then, all of a sudden, Rainne was startled into awareness. Her room was exceedingly warm, and an odd glow emanated from the lower floor of the house. The heat of the place certainly explained her dream about the fire. She stood and moved to her doorway, but as she opened the door, a blazing inferno met her, and she froze in terror. The entire lower level of the house was on fire, and it was coming closer to where she stood. Rainne screamed and jumped back from the doorway, where smoke was now seeping through the crack under the door into her room, making it difficult to see and breathe. Escape, she needed to escape, now. The only place she could think of that wasn't, to her knowledge, on fire, was out her window.

Panic overwhelmed Rainne and she struggled not to cry. Everything she had ever known was burning around her, and she was going to die along with it. Then suddenly she heard a shout from outside, and sounds of breaking glass. The voice was instantly recognisable as her father's. The mere sound of his voice gave her hope though the haze of fear, and she picked up a chair from her room and rammed one of its' legs through the glass of her window. It shattered loudly and pieces of glass littered the floor of her room. She put on a pair of boots lying unused from her floor and stepped to the window, peeking out over the sill. And then she screamed. The fire now poured out of the window of the kitchen located directly below her own window, and wafted up in great gusts of heat that could singe skin and hair, warping the foundations of the house. There was a fall out of the window of at least fifteen feet onto the rocky ground below, where Rainne noticed dismally that pieces of her shattered widow lay on the ground.

A whooshing sound came from the direction of her door, and she spun to watch in horror as the door itself was consumed with flames, swiftly followed by the doorway and her bed nearby.

_I'm going to die_, she thought hopelessly.

There was no way of surviving the fall out of her window. But her father… he was still alive. What if he was injured? She had to jump then, if only for his sake. She turned away from the blazing inferno that had once been her room and faced the window once more, inhaling shakily and gulping. She crawled into the window frame, sustaining several cuts to her hands and legs from the sharp glass, and peered down, looking for the safest place to land. She found it, and jumped, uttering a cry of pure terror.

Her body dropped onto the ground just in time, as her room was now completely engulfed in flames which now billowed out of her open window. She could have sworn she was dead. Every bit of her body felt broken and she could hardly move. Than she heard yelling, one of the voices belonging to her father, which acted as a physical force, making her stand. She followed the sounds of yelling and the sight that met her eyes caused her to freeze. Her father was surrounded by what she could only guess at to the around eight men. They all held swords and encircled her father, while one of their men stood in the center of the circle, yelling at her father.

"You should have known better that we would find you, Pedro Sanchez!"

Her father tried to take a step back, but was stopped by a sword's blade digging into his back.

"Listen, you don't understand. This had nothing to do with me, and it never did!"

"Nothing to do with you? The deaths of hundreds of men had nothing to do with you? You bloody coward! I suppose you'll lie and say it was all coincidental, as well?" He dealt a powerful blow to Pedro's stomach and he doubled over in pain, coughing up blood. Rainne almost cried out but she stopped herself by stuffing her hand in her mouth. She could not make a sound and reveal her presence to these men, a fact which she understood to the very core of her being.

"You will confess to it, Sanchez, on your own terms or ours."

"I will not lie."

"Confess, dammit! The code prevents you from lying to me!"

"Fuck the bloody code, it means nothing and you know it!" Pedro yelled. Again, the ringleader of the men punched Pedro, this time on the ear. Pedro crumpled, but fought to stay standing, dragging his eyes to the other man's. Rainne fought back a sob as she watched her father suffering so much pain at the hands of these men.

"It was not of my doing and you bloody pirates will never force me to say otherwise. You're naught but superstitious bastards looking for someone to blame for your short comings."

Silence! Your lies cannot cover for your actions Sanchez, and you of all people should know that." Again, Pedro was punched, and his nose shattered, blood tricking down his face. Rainne almost lurched towards where her father slumped, but stopped herself.

"I will not be your scapegoat Jonas." Pedro hissed. The man identified as Jonas screamed in fury, raining kicks and punches on Pedro, who was slowly forced to the ground. The other men soon joined in the barbaric savagery of inflicting pain on a man already on the ground, bleeding and barely alive. Tears coursed down Rainne's cheeks. She burned to run over to where her father lay and beat back the pirates, but she knew she was helpless to save her father against so many men.

"Enough!" Jonas yelled, and turned to the pirate on his right.

"Shoot him Barbary." The men stepped away as Barbary raised his pistol to Pedro's chest. Seconds went by as the two men stared at each other, one holding a pistol and the other bleeding in a hundred places on the ground. Time seemed to stand still, a terrifying quiet settled over the scene, interrupted infrequently by crashing beams of what used to be a house being consumed by fire. Rainne fought down a sob that was rising in her throat. Then Jonas' voice rang out again.

"Do it now Barbary, and think on our dead friends that this man murdered."

Barbary took a step back, aimed, and fired. The gunshot was loud, but to Rainne it was quiet as her mind entered a state of total shock and terror. Her father fell backwards and collpased on the ground. Jonas advanced and knelt down by the body to whisper something into Pedro's ear. As he stood, his victim twitched one final time before becoming still as death marked Pedro Sanchez as her own.

Jonas and his men then did the most unexpected thing; they laughed. It was a harsh sound which sounded nothing unlike pure evil to Rainne's ears. They pumped their fists in the air and laughed in celebration of the death of Rainne's father. Several of the men kicked the body over so that it lay face down in the dirt and stomped on it, cackling with glee. After several minutes of similar savagery, they walked off and left Rainne completely alone with the body of her father.

As soon as they were far enough away, she ran to her father, sobbing freely. She dropped to the ground where he lay, heedless of the blood pooled around him in the dirt that soaked her clothing and body. She pushed him over so that he once again faced upwards. His eyes were glossy and stared into the sky, his skin was pale and cold to the touch. Rainne wept, throwing herself on top of the body of her father. She felt alone, so unbelievably alone. She knew not how long she stayed like that, but when she turned to look at what had been her house, all that remained was the charred carcass of the foundation and a pool of fire still burning away at its center. The smoke was enough to make Rainne choke, but she took no notice of it. Instead she turned back to her father and wept.

She would have revenge, she swore to the cold body of her father, if it was the last thing she did in her life. She would find the bastards who did this and torture them, kill them, and most of all enjoy it. Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with rage, and she screamed to gods above, venting her fury at the sky.

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I would like to thank the three people who have reviewed so far, as well as those who have added my story to their favourites and alerts. Thanks! It gives me a reason not to procrastinate if I know people are reading my story and enjoying it.

**Please review!**


	4. Theft

There was a general rule that every citizen of Tortuga and Eagle's View seemed to understand; never get involved in matters that are of no direct concern to you. The city was simply too dangerous to become entangled in the affairs of others, because more often than not these problems revolved around unlawful things. Most citizens already had enough problems without being persecuted by the law for something that had nothing to do with them.

This was, invariably, the way things went the night Rainne's father died. To a foreigner, it might have seemed odd that none of the neighbours had rushed out and tried to douse the fire that consumed The Sanchez residence, or jumped to defend a man's life as he was beaten by a gang of pirates. Locals, however, were simply following the ancient rule and refused to meddle in other's business.

As a matter of fact, none of the people living in Eagle's View had come into contact with Rainne since that fateful night. Not one. Her home now lay in a pile of ashes and smoking, charred beams of wood long past any hope of salvage or reuse. She had buried her father in the dirt on a grassy hill not to far away from the house. The ground had been rocky and dry, and her hands had been the only tools for digging available to her. They now sported many scratches and a few bruises to match the rest of her body. Rainne had taken inspiration from the natives of the land and she had piled rocks over the grave, marking the spot as well as protecting it from scavenging birds looking for a meal.

A fortnight had since passed, and Rainne had had ample time to relive the murder of her father. To say that she was confused was an understatement; she couldn't think of any reason why her father had been murdered by a band of pirates that Rainne had never laid eyes on. Neither did she have any idea what the man Jonas had been talking about. She struggled to remember the details of that last conversation.

"_Do it now Barbary, and think on our dead friends that this man has murdered," _was what he had said to the man with the pistol. Her father had murdered someone?

Confusion was not, however, the only emotion that Rainne had felt recently. Most notable was hatred, which reined constantly. Hatred to any who dared call themselves a pirate, for they had by association murdered her father. All pirates were drunks and killers and Rainne had never felt so disgusted and infuriated by the thought of them. Not infrequently had she imagined her revenge on the murderers who had paid her father a visit.

She felt absolutely alone and terrified. Her father was gone, and there was no one else. She had been living in the woods near her father's grave since the incident, simply because she couldn't bear to be away from the one person who had been a constant presence in her life.

Between all of these raging emotions, Rainne had also pondered the very reason for this death, the reason why the men had come to her house and the reason that they blamed her father for multiple deaths. It simply didn't make any sense. Her father had been a workingman all of his life and had never been affiliated with these brutes, and yet… If he hadn't known them, why had he acted like he understood what they were talking about, and why had he defended himself against their accusations? These thoughts often overwhelmed Rainne and she pushed them to the back of her mind.

One thing had made itself abundantly clear. Rainne needed to track down these men, for whom she had two names; Jonas and Barbary. She would find them, and use whatever means necessary to discover the true nature of her father's past, if, that is to say, there was anything to learn in the first place. And so, Rainne decided to venture into Tortuga and begin her search for the men.

As she walked, she realised the danger she could be placing herself in. She was hunting down a band of murderers in Tortuga, unarmed, unaided and relatively untrained in the art of combat. She would need a sword to defend herself, as well as whatever other weapons she could find in the city. The more she thought about it, the less likely her chances of success became. Who would anybody in town give her, the unaccompanied young woman, information about a band of pirates? Things like that simply didn't happen in Tortuga, not to mention she would be the last soft of person who could be expected to ask those kinds of questions.

Rainne frowned. There was only one option then, she would have to dress like a man, and a pirate at that. Her frown turned to a scowl. Despite her loathing the idea, it was the only way to incur trust into the people of Tortuga to provide her with the information she so desperately needed.

She arrived in town looking a wreck; from the dirt and grime all over her, to the torn and singed clothing and scrapes all over her arms and face, it was a peculiar sight. Rainne scrubbed most of the dirt off, and entered a nearby shop which sold men's clothing and accessories.

"How can I help you, miss?" An aging woman shuffled to the front of the store, pausing briefly to stare at Rainne's scraggly appearance.

"I was looking to purchase some clothing for my father," she quickly lied.

"Anything in particular, miss?" Rainne made up a quick inventory in her head.

"Yes, actually. I would like to purchase a shirt and jacket, as well as a pair of breeches and a hat." The hat was essential to hide her rather feminine, long hair.

"And what size of clothing does your father take?"

"He's about my own size, only a bit rounder in the midriff." Rainne was suddenly nervous. She had to make sure there was nothing resembling a woman after she changed clothing or the plan would all be for nothing.

"Here we are miss," the woman called a few minutes later, and she jotted down the price in a book of records. "That'll be sixty three shillings then."

"Right." Rainne dug her hand into her pocket. Her stomach dropped and she felt ill all of a sudden. She didn't have any money; it had burned along with all of her material possessions in the fire.

"Uh… could I return to purchase the items later?"

"Certainly, I'll put them under the counter for you."

"Thank you very much!," Rainne gushed, a feeling of panic swelling inside. She quickly left the shop, well aware of the older woman's frowning gaze on her back. As the door closed behind her, Rainne sank down to sit against the wall, feeling absolutely hopeless.

***

It was sometime in the dead of night when Rainne crept back to the store she had left earlier that day. As she moved, she cursed repeatedly under her breath. Without money she couldn't buy the clothes and without the clothes she had no disguise and with no disguise she couldn't track down her father's murders, and if she couldn't find her father's murderers, well, she would never have her revenge. She was unfortunately left with no choice but to steal the clothing.

She cursed again. She felt as if she was becoming what she hated so strongly; a pirate. Her subconscious reminded her that this was the only way, and she had promised herself to leave money under the door if she ever returned, to make up for the stolen articles. Somehow, that didn't make this sneaking about in the middle of the night business any better in her mind.

She quickly approached the shop, making sure to stay in the shadows, and smashed the dirty glass out of the front window. Her hand groped its' way around until she felt the cold metal of the doorknob. Turning slowly, she admitted herself into the building and moved to the counter where, sure enough, the pile of clothes still lay. Well, at least there was some small amount of luck working in her favour. She seized the pile and crept back out again, dashing behind the building to seek the cover of absolute darkness.

Shortly after, she repeated the entire process, but this time her victim was the blacksmith. She felt even worse about this theft because the weapons were all expensive and someone would lose a large amount of profit because of her. But as guilt threatened to override her, she thought back to the night she had watched her father die, and rage filled her once more. She decided this was a small price to pay in exchange for the justice she would exact on the murdering scum that had victimized her father.

During her visit to the blacksmith, Rainne found a decent sword in an unused sheath, several daggers, pistols and gunpowder, and lastly a belt to carry everything. She left quickly and walked back to the forest to where her father was buried in Eagle's View. After entering the relative safety of the woods, Rainne unceremoniously dumped the stolen goods on the ground and lay down.


End file.
